Looking at the return of health services and screening programmes

Anyone who was invited for a breast screening appointment before the pause, who was unable to attend for any reason or had an appointment cancelled, will receive a letter in the coming weeks.

There will be no change to the screening test itself, however additional measures have been introduced to allow breast screening to take place in a safe environment.

Staff will wear necessary personal protective equipment and appointments will be staggered to ensure waiting areas are quieter.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said:“Pausing the adult national screening programmes was one of a series of difficult decisions we have had to make in responding to the impact of COVID-19.

“I am delighted breast cancer screening is resuming and I would urge everyone to attend their appointment, as screening can find early signs of cancer.”

Meanwhile, Western Isles MSP Alasdair Allan highlighted on Twitter today (Wednesday) concerns over the drop in the number of women contacting their GP with symptoms of Ovarian Cancer.

The Island MSP pointed his followers to a new report by ‘Target Ovarian Cancer’, which reveals the significant impact that coronavirus (Covid-19) has had on the treatment and support for women with ovarian cancer, including delays in diagnosis.

On their website Target Ovarian Cancer, stated: “Early diagnosis saves lives. But, since the pandemic, the number of urgent referrals for suspected cancer have dropped by 60 per cent.

“We’ve heard from many women who are worried about visiting their GP with symptoms in case they come into contact with the virus, and for fear of overburdening the GP.”

Annwen Jones OBE, Chief Executive of Target Ovarian Cancer, added: “It’s hard to overstate the difficulties faced by women with ovarian cancer during this pandemic. We must not let them down as health services recover.

“It is urgent that we now see comprehensive plans and a timeline for the full restoration of diagnostic, treatment and support services.”

In regards to the resumption of health services locally NHS Western Isles revealed this week that steps are now being taken to get these back up and running.

NHS Western Isles Chief Executive, Gordon Jamieson, said: “We would like to sincerely thank our local communities for their patience during what has been an extremely challenging time and please be assured that we are working hard to resume services.

“We are now recovering and renewing some services in a safe, slow and very gradual basis. This is because we are not able to accommodate the same number of patients as we did previously due to keeping our services safe for you and our staff, in terms of physical distancing and the time now required for enhanced cleaning between patients.

“During lockdown, our GP services and outpatient clinics have been undertaking the majority of consultations by telephone or using Near Me video technology. This has been widely accepted, has worked well, and will continue into the future.

“However, face to face appointments will continue where the attending clinician deems that necessary.”

Mr Jamieson continued: “It is likely that, as services resume, they will not look or feel the same as they did previously, due to the constraints mentioned above.

“How a patient experiences a service (e.g. when, where and how it is delivered) may be quite different.”

To date, NHS Western Isles has re-introduced limited Dental Services and two local Optometrists have been open from the end of June for urgent and essential eye care. Endoscopy services are now also provided over three days a week (not yet at Ospadal Uibhist agus Bharraigh) and the vast majority of Outpatient clinics have started again.

However, there is no immediate plan to re-introduce inpatient surgery at present, unless there is an urgent requirement.

But, moves are being made to reintroduce day surgery, with cataract surgery beginning later this week.

The Scottish Government has also announced that non-urgent Podiatry and Physiotherapy services can now also be provided and Community Nursing services will continue to expand in Phase 3 of the easing of lockdown measures.